The two biggest unions at South African gold-mining companies said wage negotiations have broken down, bringing the industry closer to a strike.
"The talks have collapsed in the sense that the Chamber of Mines has gone back to the original offer," David Sipunzi, secretary general of the National Union of Mineworkers, the largest labor group at gold mines, told reporters in Johannesburg on Thursday. "If the attitude remains the same, we cannot rule out a strike."
A strike would add to pressure on South Africa's mining industry, already hurting from lower commodity prices and facing job cuts. A five-month work stoppage at platinum mines helped cut economic growth to 1.5 percent last year, the slowest pace since a recession in 2009. Gold dropped 5.7 percent this year and is trading near a five-year low. ...
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